Blue Tent

innocentive

2008-04-09T14:51:00.001-05:00

do you have a problem? have talents around the world solve it for you!

千里之外

2007-11-28T17:15:00.003-05:00

千里之外

歌手：周杰伦费玉清

屋檐如悬崖风铃如沧海我等燕归来
时间被安排演一场意外你悄然走开
故事在城外浓雾散不开看不清对白
你听不出来风声不存在是我在感慨
梦醒来是谁在窗台把结局打开
那薄如蝉翼的未来经不起谁来拆
我送你离开千里之外你无声黑白
沉默年代或许不该太遥远的相爱
我送你离开天涯之外你是否还在
琴声何来生死难猜用一生去等待

RAP：

闻泪声入林寻梨花白只得一行青苔
天在山之外雨落花台我两鬓斑白
闻泪声入林寻梨花白只得一行青苔
天在山之外雨落花台我等你来
一身琉璃白透明着尘埃你无瑕的爱
你从雨中来诗化了悲哀我淋湿现在
芙蓉水面采船行影犹在你却不回来
被岁月覆盖你说的花开过去成空白
梦醒来是谁在窗台把结局打开那薄如蝉翼的未来经不起谁来拆
我送你离开千里之外你无声黑白沉默年代或许不该太遥远的相爱
我送你离开天涯之外你是否还在琴声何来生死难猜用一生去等待

百年好合－赠小飞和阿红

2007-11-02T23:33:00.000-05:00

一个刚毅直爽，一个柔肠百转，
青山绿野中，天造地设一对。
时空变换，却是勇敢的心依旧。
遥祝笑口常开，百年好合。

video: 小飞和阿红喝交杯酒

pics: 小飞婚宴

trapped in the cocoon stage

2007-09-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

It's been 132 days since it happened. During those 132 days, I spent 57 days working as an intern (and I excelled), 19 days traveling (and I had fun), 8 days backpacking (and I made good friends), and for the rest of the days, I have been living in a "pseudo" vegetative state (and I failed to do anything about it).

I am amazed (and scared) how some part of me can completely shut down and fool the other half of myself. The bad part, the part that shut down, simply refuses to receive and react to happenings from outside or thinking from within - as if, it's dead. I figured something is wrong with me and I need a change. But the bad part simply won't listen. It is not even conscious any more. It locked itself up in a cocoon, a cocoon that prefers to escape from the world and would never emerge. I needed great courage to step out of my comfort zone and write in this blog, publicly. I feel ashamed because I would never scream help and there is no one who can help me, no one but myself. I know too much and I'm too arrogant to handle failures. How ironic... When time passes by and I get older day by day, I simply feel, my life is wasted, and I'm watching it happen!

When can I wake up?

summer 2007 photos

2007-08-01T13:42:00.000-05:00

are on Picasa web album
http://picasaweb.google.com/tammy.ren

intern presentation schedule May 14 - July 31

2007-08-01T13:36:00.000-05:00

1 Trish, Leonard, Megan, Jim S.
2 Jeff W., Scott H. 1-Jun
3 Team demo 7-Jun
4 Presentation to Pat, Linda, Trish, Megan 12-Jun
5 Preston H. from Tom G. group 22-Jun
6 Mark H., Tom H., Tim B. 26-Jun
7 Released Systems, Ben R., Gary H., Kate A. 27-Jun
8 Adams Quality Extended Team 27-Jun
9 Laruen W., Leonard, Tom G., Preston H. 28-Jun
10 Presentation to Pat,John H, Linda, Subu, Leonard, Trish 17-Jul
11 Bob W, Kate, Ben, Gary, Jay, Paul S. 18-Jul
12 Presentation to Reggie 27-Jul
13 Linda's Communication meeting presentation 31-Jul

travel log - south dakota

2007-05-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

South Dakota, Badlands and Black Hills
77 hours
1500+ miles
1 speeding ticket on I-90W near mile post 123 (Faribault County, MN)
whiteout in a rain storm under the bright sun
buffaloes and prairie dogs
mountain carving
sioux american indian culture
american presidents and history
started my national park passport

best day in my life

2007-04-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

I wandered, I wandered far ...
I knocked, I knocked softly ...
And to my surprise,
The door opens, the door opens for me ...

400+ days around china

2007-04-08T20:01:00.000-05:00

temptation...
2006 走遍中国（完整版）
400+ days, 1/60 of your life, $100k maybe? - a trip around china

the golden old days - 闪亮的日子

2007-04-07T13:10:00.000-05:00

ThuClimbing Album 1994-2003

I was young, I was happy, I was one of them.

This is my team, the team that I belonged back in 2000-2003, the team that has been and will always be close to my heart.

H1B

2007-04-04T18:38:00.000-05:00

H1B 85,000 cap filled in one day. what happens next?

Immigration Reform and Attracting Foreign Talent

2007-03-09T23:01:00.000-05:00

In this NAFSA statement, it is argued that U.S. needs to attract and retain foreign talent. It was suggested that the H1B cap need to be increased to 115,000, OPT need to be extended to 24 months, and a new category of F-4 that allow permanent residency immediately after graduation need to be established for foreign students with advanced degrees in STEM fields.

Immigration Reform and Attracting Foreign Talent

Offshoring Engineering Jobs

2007-03-03T17:24:00.000-05:00

A study done by Pratt. Two reports:

Framing the Engineering Outsourcing Debate: Placing the United States on a Level Playing Field with China and India

Industry Trends in Engineering Offshoring

Daniel Mazur

2007-02-20T23:28:00.000-05:00

UNC outing club invited Daniel Mazur for a presentation on his Mt. Everest Expedition back in 1991.

During the start of his presentation, there was this slide showing an store front of a Nepal outdoor gear shop. And Dan said: "I met a Russian man in this shop. He asked me whether I would be interested in going for a climbing trip with him and I said yes. Three months later, we climbed Mt. Everest together." The climb was a legendary story, presented in a humorous yet thought-provoking way. Besides stories, Dan also told names - names of mountains, names of climbers, names of those who lost their lives to their love. In a few weeks, Dan is going to visit Everest again.

It was nice to see photos and videos of beautiful mountains. It was nice to meet Dan and hear about his adventures. I envy him, because he is successful in making a profession out of what he loves most doing. I did not have the option. But I always know, somewhere far away, are those snow mountains, waiting for me.

National Geographic Adventure Magazine has a video of Dan talking about the rescue of Lincoln Hall, who was left for dead near 8,382m.
Go visit Dan's SummitClimb for reasonably priced adventure trips.
Support a good cause by getting a Bell from Everest.

a gathering of science bloggers

2007-01-20T23:07:00.000-05:00

Can scientific research become open source? Are researchers and teachers adopting well to the technological advances? Blog v.s. Wiki? Interesting people met to discuss cutting-edge topics at today's Science Blogging Conference

life is a struggle

2007-01-12T16:42:00.000-05:00

i can't agree more. but with just the right seasoning, the struggle makes you stronger.

Embracing Diversity

2006-11-18T16:49:00.000-05:00

Two things impress me most about Duke: one is the faculty-student ratio, the other is diversity.
I work in a research group of eleven scientists and engineers, five of which are Americans, two are from China, one from France, one from Germany, one from Nigeria, and one whose parents are from Vietnam. In such diversity, it is interesting how people think differently; it is even amazing how people from completely different backgrounds can learn from each other while working together.

My Goals for the Remaining 58 Days of This Year

2006-11-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

pass my prelim
complete spring event planning
personal website make-over
cross-country through I-40E

Invisibility Cloak

2006-10-23T22:40:00.000-05:00

After and extensive media coverage, Dave and Dave's invisibility cloak stroke Duke Today's headline.

My Dream List - revisit

2006-10-19T14:14:00.000-05:00

A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.

- K Denis Waitley

Glacier, MT
Mt. Rainier, WA - Aug 2006
Rocky Mountain, CO
Yosemite, CA
Denali, AK
Grand Canyon, AZ
Zion, UT
Olympic, WA - May 2006
Sequoia/Kings Canyon, CA
Yellowstone, WY
Acadia, ME - July 2006
Isle Royale, MI
Great Smoky Mountains, TN/NC - Aug 2005, May 2004
Voyageurs, MN
Big Bend, TX - Dec 2004
Lassen, CA
Shenandoah, VA - Oct 2005
Theodore Roosevelt, ND
Badlands, SD

A Letter to the Chinese Community at Duke

2006-08-11T22:20:00.000-05:00

Zihui and I arrived in US on the same flight three years ago and she has been a great friend to me since then.
She has been suffering from the relationship with her advisor but did not bring this up to public until now. Being her friend, I wish I had done more than I did. No one wants to see this happen, but I believe this is her last choice. She wouldn't have made this choice if she could find a better way out. The university's responsibility is to educate people, not destroy people. Failure to help students in trouble simply signals failure in the education system. Zihui does not deserve what she has gone through and what she is facing.
I have been at Duke Graduate School for three years and I have seen many cases where graduate students suffer from bad relationships with their advisors. Many of them choose to be silent, and thereby made the problems invisible to the school. Being international, it is not easy to survive. Zihui unfortunately became an extreme case, where she has to fight for her rights. Her courage deserves support.
Let's unite and defend our college and friend. Please help support her and get her voice heard!

We are with you, Zihui. Be strong.
Tong Ren

My Summary for the Rainier Climb

2006-08-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

(To my dear teammates) I enjoyed the trip and I am grateful to be in this team. Thanks to you all, who took good care of me, who waited for me while I was slow, who carried heavy weight for me, who led the way and let me follow their footsteps... I couldn't have made it without you. I wish I were faster and could share more load on the way up. ... Here are some thoughts from my side.

What went well:
good weather
clear and good route conditions
great team !
no slip and fall
relatively warm temperature (around 0C)
ice training before the day of summit
the shelter provided a good sleep of four hours
mountain house and Gatorade powder were good
plenty of water/food all the way (Thanks to HN and YY who boiled water for hours and hours!!!)

What went wrong (or could have been improved)
leaving approx. one hour later than planned on both days
loosing the tents
I didn't like the energy bars, too sweet, no salt
no one had rope-up experience before this climb

Best memories
being in the same group with GF all the way
when we unlocked LC's car with an ice axe and a tent pole
eating beef (mountain house) together
when YY flashed his head light at the end of glacier and GF found him
sliding down the last part of the glacier
beautiful (and scary) crevasses along the way
sun rise on the way to summit
cherries at pebble creek (thanks to ZS couple and I owe you a dinner for carrying my bag!)
ate dumplings (thanks to TY!) and later found McDonald's open while freezing on the street at 5AM

Worst memories
one of my contact lenses fell out and got lost in the wind half way to the summit
felt scared and concerned when we were crossing the volcano flat area near the summit in white-out conditions
lost my temper at the metal box near the summit
about half way down, my stomach wasn't felling well and I wanted to go to rest room, but had to keep descending with the bad feeling for hours
walking in the dark with a very poor vision
mistakenly left my food bag to LC, who carried it all the way up to Muir (//bow)
couldn't believe our tents were stolen, lost my favorite gears and pics taken along the way

THE TEAM

YY: You kept up the team spirit from the very beginning. The pics and links/video/books you sent to the mailing list helped me keep up with my training. You took care of everything, from technical gears to food, from boiling water to finding paths. You provided us with a base in Seattle and drove everyone home until 5:30AM on the last day. You were not at rest for a single second!

LC: You took part in the planning and made sure everything was in order. You also carried huge packs all the way?You have been a great team player and always kept everyone in mind. You are so Shan4 Liang2, that I sometimes (in comparison) feel selfish :P I admire the fact that you decided to wear the single layer non-waterproof pants on the summit day and did fine. I couldn't have survived in those pants. But please please please take good care of yourself in future climbs!

HN: You have been a great teammate and we were on the same rope. You shared carrying the load whenever you can. You kept calm while I lost my temper (//bow). You boiled water while everyone else was already asleep. You are the one who did all the work and caused no trouble!

GF: This is our third climb and second summit together. I can't feel any safer or more encouraged than having you by my side. Your presence gives me strength, always!

Z: I'm glad you shared the climbing experience with us and you did great! Please take good care of your knees.

by 夏天

2006-07-12T15:17:00.000-05:00

当我坐在办公桌前的时候，我想，你们大家正穿着毕业服，坐在综合体育馆里听校长的讲话。
公车上，头还在隐隐的痛。昨晚的一幕幕又在脑海中浮现：朱喝得很高，抱着邹晖痛哭；瓜的脸已经通红；晕哥敬酒半天不回来；八男点了手撕鸡??
终究还是散了。当我推着车，和王航走在回清华的路上，我这么想。当7年时光一晃而过，我们即将踏上各自的旅程时，我这么想。
人生是快乐而残酷的。快乐的是，我们有很多值得信赖和依托的朋友；残酷的是，我们终有一天要和朝夕相处的朋友说再见。
命运真的是一种奇妙的东西，我不想为之束缚，但却时时刻刻摆脱不了。7年前的今天，我们彼此都不认识，7年后的今天，我们在一起，为即将到来的分别依依不舍。聚与散，本是人生中最平常不过的事情，但我们却总是不甘，想着做与命运抗争的勇士，但却面对它无奈的摇头。其实，命运已经给了我们很好的礼物??回忆。
军训教官总是抓着邹晖和晕哥不放，打靶那天太兴奋结果5颗子弹全部打飞；第一个元旦给邹晖过生日，蛋糕在10秒钟之内被一抢而空，张星成了大厨，包了一堆饺子结果自己没吃几个；第一次寒假下了大雪，我们一起去雪中拍照，可惜照片不知所终；朱在宿舍夜话的时候曾问过一公分是多少厘米，后来被写到了班级日志里；去香山人渣和王晓蕾领错了路，结果大家都怀疑他们头天到底是不是去探过路；邹晖带着我去取咱班足球队服，结果半路下了暴雨，被淋得够呛；黑龙潭一帮人吃着半生不熟的烤肉，朱说自己是个容易动感情的人；篮球赛的时候我投了好几个三不粘，后来总算进球了，对着安南和贱刘飞吻；去十渡火车很晚才到，大家摸着黑去农家，不知道是谁踩了一脚马粪，晚上的烧烤照样不到5成熟，通宵杀人；本科毕业排《英雄》，全班总动员，胡鹏总是找不到ws的感觉，老余一直拿着相机拍花絮，张燕燕扮大妈逗得大家发笑，王航演技高超，把个唐伯虎表现得ws至极??
回忆，真的太多了。
若干年后的某一天，我做梦还会梦到你们，我想，那时我的嘴角会挂着笑??
总是有终点的，就像这篇文章。时光不会倒流，脚下的路还在继续。收起美好的回忆，把它们珍藏在自己心中的某处，我们向过去挥一挥衣袖，转过身，继续为着下一个目标奋斗。我们还会再见的，那个时候，我们再把这些回忆取出来，细细品味，人生的幸福，也就尽在其中了。

Teaching Journal - D15 - D20

2006-07-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

Day 18
This morning we had the NC EOC test, which signals the end of academic work for this course. I spent long hours filling the rubrics for each student. The rubric, together with the scores on teacher's final and EOC, will be the final evaluation that the students can take to next level schooling. This is the first time I formally evaluate someone from a teacher's point of view. I was very careful when using my power of judgment.

Day 19
I met with the student individually in the morning to discuss with them their rubrics. After seeing my comments, some were happy and some were sad. I tried to use positive words and give constructive criticism if necessary. With some of the students, it was not easy to be honest and encouraging at the same time.

We went to Ben and Jerry's in the afternoon, and by the time we were back, EOC scores were waiting for us. 11 of 12 students passed with A! Hurray! The only one who got a B is the student with ADHD. I was quite happy about the score, and decided that I would change my rubric evaluation for two of the students from "recommended with additional study" to "recommended" since they both got A.

The students closed the classroom door leaving me and my TA outside. It looked like they were playing some secret games and then we finally found out, they were making T-shirts for us! All over the board and the T-shirts are their signatures and words of wishes. At the moment when I saw the lovely words, I suddenly felt that I would miss them.

P.S.
This journal was never completed?.. as usual :-)

Teaching Journal - D8 - D13

2006-06-24T17:59:00.000-05:00

Day 8

Lunch hour is when instructors sit on the same table and talk about everything. There will always be people complaining about things, people sharing stories, people seeking advice, or people just listening. Unlike me, most of the instructors are returning TIP staff and teach at high schools in regular school years. The conversations remind me of my own high school teachers, whom, to my surprise, I still have a clear memory about. Sometime during the lunches, I decided that I will not take high school teaching as my major career path.

Education is a long-lasting profession that is important in all ages, at all times. In my opinion, teachers and doctors are always needed everywhere as long as there are human beings alive. That's not the case for lawyers or business managers. Therefore, if you can be a teacher and able to teach useful stuff, you will always be useful to others and the society, and hopefully, you will always be able to find a job. My department head back at Duke, a respectful scholar who encouraged me to improve teaching skills, once said to me that research can be ultimately considered as a way of teaching. Researchers study new theories and solve new problems. After getting to convincing results, they publish papers to explain to and teach the world their new theory or problem solving method. In that regard, research is all about teaching on an advanced knowledge level.

Day 13
"Life is simple. You make choices and you never look back. "

Blue Tent

innocentive

千里之外

百年好合 － 赠小飞和阿红

trapped in the cocoon stage

summer 2007 photos

intern presentation schedule May 14 - July 31

travel log - south dakota

best day in my life

400+ days around china

the golden old days - 闪亮的日子

H1B

Immigration Reform and Attracting Foreign Talent

Offshoring Engineering Jobs

Daniel Mazur

a gathering of science bloggers

life is a struggle

Embracing Diversity

My Goals for the Remaining 58 Days of This Year

Invisibility Cloak

My Dream List - revisit

A Letter to the Chinese Community at Duke

My Summary for the Rainier Climb

by 夏天

Teaching Journal - D15 - D20

Teaching Journal - D8 - D13

百年好合－赠小飞和阿红